(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121031-damascus-bombing-hmed-9a.photoblog600.jpg)Shaam News Network via APSmoke rising from a suburb of Damascus, Syria, following heavy bombing from military warplanes Wednesday. The image was taken from video obtained from Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting.By The Associated PressBEIRUT -- Syrian warplanes pounded opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north Wednesday, as President Bashar Assad's forces intensified airstrikes against rebels seeking to topple him, activists said.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers reports from a network of activists on the ground, said government jets carried out five strikes in the eastern Ghouta district, a rebel stronghold close to the capital.
Three airstrikes also hit the rebel-held city of Maaret al-Numan that straddles a key supply route from Damascus to Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a main front in the civil war. Maaret al-Numan has been under constant bombardment since it fell to the rebels on Oct. 10.
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